Will the future be better than now? Hardly. The climate is warming, glaciers are melting and pandemics are rampant. Of course, I am no longer around to see what is happening. Probably AI will take on more and more responsibility and people will become idle. Is this also true in Europe? In all developed countries, the dominance of technology is increasing and people are being overwhelmed by it. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.

The year 2040 has just begun and Europe has changed a lot. Everyone knows that the basis for a healthy society is access to electricity in an economic and secure way. Sweden already started in the mid-20th century to re-establish a power system that is economic and reliable. In addition to the six large nuclear power plants that already exist and have had their lifetimes extended, Sweden has four more, each with a capacity of 1,600 MW, and a number of smaller plants that supply major cities with both electricity and district heating. Other countries in Europe have absorbed the same knowledge and the electricity production system has given Europe a competitive edge. The economy is booming and crime has fallen dramatically. In the early 1930s, scientists calculated more seriously how much CO2 was needed to feed the growing population and discovered that the Paris Agreement had to be reworked to increase the proportion of CO2 and captured CO2 had to be used in greenhouses to increase the amount of food produced. Population growth has fortunately slowed to reasonable levels. China and Russia have now been functioning democracies for a few years and Russia's EU membership is now complete. The US has returned to democratic elections after the Trump era ended with the US on the verge of collapse with its huge debt mountain. North Korea is integrated with South Korea and prosperity is increasing in the region. The remaining global problem is Iran, which holds its population in an iron grip and executes all women not wearing a burka. Africa has a good level of prosperity but is still a long way from a completely happy population. Australia's economy is starting to improve after the difficult years when politicians bet everything on solar and wind power. South America has recovered and countries that were once communist-ruled are now functioning democracies. The Amazon has been restored as the healthy lung of the planet.

No hunger, hatred or resentment in the world. No wars, everyone should live the way that is right for them, as long as others are not negatively affected. Sufficient income and enough living space. Good care and nursing in old age, not only work, but also time for oneself. Good education for everyone, good healthcare. Unfortunately, people are not wired that way, so this will probably never become reality. But you can still wish and hope.

Contamination. In my opinion, this is one of the most pressing issues right now, so I would think that if we moved, this problem would at least be addressed. Food contamination has been reduced, and there is a greater appreciation for fruit and vegetables grown in nature without fertilisers and various pesticides. As far as machine pollutants are concerned, various fuels would be invented that not only do not pollute the environment, but also destroy the pollution so that it is possible to return later. The pollution of nature from all sorts of means: burning bonfires, the effects of war, etc. This could be tackled, but the means have not yet been found. It is a difficult and tedious process, but in a couple of decades, the means will have been found to eradicate pollution. Everyone will see pollution as a serious problem that needs to be tackled without delay, and a place for new products to be found. So there will be many new ideas worthy of funding to solve the problem, and it will take a lot of testing and trust to come up with a fuel that will reduce pollution. It will take many years to find the right tool to enable more sustainable driving. Pollution-free food will be much better than any before and will not spoil so quickly, but neither will it taste like plastic. Well, the damage to the environment will still be a sensitive subject, but it is already being addressed and will be the subject of significant funding.